1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium, a program and a display device and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium, a program and a display device all of which enable users to perform communication in a more natural way.
2. Description of Related Art
As a so-called full parallax image presentation system in which viewpoints can be selected, there is, for example, an IP (Integral Photography) stereoscopic image system.
The principles of an IP technique used in the IP stereoscopic image system have already been proposed in the early twentieth century.
Namely, IP is a technique in which a plurality of small images of a subject obtained by performing photography via a lens array such as the compound multifaceted eyes of insects are formed on a photographic plate, the photographic plate is illuminated from the position opposite to the position of the subject across the photographic plate, and light rays is reproduced which trace in the reverse direction the same trajectories as light rays propagating from the subject to the photographic plate during photography, thereby reproducing a three-dimensional image of the subject at the position where the subject was situated.
The IP stereoscopic image system is a system which electronically realizes this IP technique by using a digital camera, a liquid crystal display or the like. Accordingly, the IP stereoscopic image system is basically made of a digital camera having a lens array disposed in the front section, and a liquid crystal display having a lens array disposed on the surface and performing reproduction of an image of a subject.
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-54153) discloses an image capture and display device for stereoscopic images using IP. This image capture and display device is constructed to obtain a stereoscopic image of a subject by causing light which enters from the subject into an image capture optical fiber to exit from the side of the device opposite to the subject across the image capture and display device. A display lens is disposed on the light exiting side of the device.
Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-23203) discloses a technique which captures light rays from a subject reflected by a prismatic mirror group, by means of a camera, and acquires a subject image of high spatial resolution. Patent Document 2 also discloses that images captured by this technique are used for providing a stereoscopic image of high spatial resolution in real time, whereby a stereoscopic display system is realized.